Yesterday, I trusted the daily to Mr C and it was almost two hours late, so I have snatched the reigns back for Tuesday. The conversations are mostly still revolving around Bahrain and the impact of the refuelling ban, but there is a dedicated thread for that. Instead, I will point you in the direction of some completely different topics:
It was a huge week for Christine's Rankings with loads of drivers moving up and down. Mr C commented earlier in the weekend that if Chandhok wasn't leading there would be something very wrong with the world. Thankfully, we don't have that problem!
I posted our F1 Debrief show yesterday, and it's a good one, mostly because it features a lot of voicemails from our lovely listeners. Rather than listen to us whine about the Bahrain GP, we hear from you guys and what you think. More please.
I stumbled across the return of Paddock Life. I love the behind the scenes peek, although of course we have such unprecedented access this year that it's not as special as it used to be. Still, there are great stories about Rubens being a bit cheeky, and the grid protest by the drivers.
That'll do it for now. Let us know how your week is going, and I will see you in the comments.
Coming up on this week's show, we talk about visits to the Queen, Williams holding a grudge, surreptitious snorkels, bumpy roads and singing commentators.
Intro
A curious thing has happened, in which Mr C finds himself agreeing with an unlikely source.
Good Week / Bad Week
It has been a good week for Brawn GP and Nick Fry as he accepted a Laureus award on their behalf. Jenson Button is also having a good time of it as he is fast becoming bi-lingual. It's been a bad week for Stefan GP, as their road to F1 might be a bit tough, whilst the Bahrain organisers struggle to control their champions.
News and Views
The McLaren wing kerfuffle seems to be over for now, although that only seems to be because the team didn't do so well in Bahrain. Elsewhere, it feels like the entire paddock is picking on Schumacher.
The Race
We recap some of the key points, including Chandhok's lack of laps, Vettel's reliability problems, and Webber's overfill of oil. We've created a fabulous Factbyte Factbox that has made the weekend much more interesting for us, which is lucky because the racing was dire. We decide to forego moaning about the race and instead let our voicemails do the talking.
Feedback
Two quick shoutouts, some emails regarding Fantasy Racers and pronunciation, a message from Sir Stirling Moss, and a note about how very nerdy the weekend has become.
Coming up this week, we discuss team members departing, really dodgy names, Hamilton opening up, an evening with Joe, and those dangerous new teams.
Intro
This time next week the first race of the season will already be over! It's pretty exciting. Before that though, lots of news to get through plus some Fantasy Racers roll calls.
Good Week / Bad Week
It's been a good week for the Korean GP as they reckon they are on schedule, and for Renault who have managed to find a little bit of sponsorship in the form of Lada. It's been a bad week for Force India though, who haven't quite worked out how to use bit.ly yet, and for Willy Rampf who is leaving BMW Sauber.
News and Views
We discuss a few conclusions from testing, although nothing particularly groundbreaking. The fastest drivers, and those that completed the most distance. We contemplate some Ferrari developments and Red Bull stickers. We also wonder whether anything will come of the McLaren aero complaints.
The topic of US F1 can't be avoided any longer, if only because this may be the last time we get to talk about them. Anderson and Windsor appear to be to blame for the sinking of the ship, and with no Stefan GP either, we're looking at a slightly smaller grid. We discuss Campos' new change of name and image, although we don't particularly like it, and we briefly look at Hamilton's new openness now he's out from his father's management.
Feedback
Loads of feedback including: Jonathan sends me a picture of a marmot, Steven wants to know what LOST podcasts we listen to, Toastboy bets on Jenson, Iain looks into his crystal ball, Lisa's spotted a problem with Zencast, John has a Zune, Andy is being volunteered to get involved, Pete says a quick hello, and Simon is travelling the world.
Housekeeping
Bassano leads us in to a brief discussion about the excellent evening out with Joe, plus we plug the competition. All of Sidepodcast is now live so you never have to refresh again. We do a quick reminder about the show notes, plug a couple of fantasy F1 type things, and say goodbye until next week.
Outtakes
Those Fantasy Racers Roll Call sections were a little bit tricky. We knew there would be outtakes galore, but we didn't know there would be six minutes worth! Here they are in two parts.
I didn't mention Janna's birthday in the daily post today, because I knew we had a guest post stored up and waiting. Here, Janna tells us what she would like for her birthday.
It’s my birthday today and I keep being asked what I would like or what I’m getting. I like birthdays and I like being given presents but, even more than that, I like giving to someone else something I know they will really enjoy.
With that in mind, and because Christine & Mr C are too nice to ask themselves, I wanted to remind everyone about supporting Sidepodcast.
This site, and all of the podcasts, are the product of Mr & Mrs C’s “spare” time and dedication. They do this because they want to but it takes up a lot of their time and a considerable amount of money. They provide us with an amazing amount of F1 news and a site where we can share our views on all things F1 (and not) supported by their hard work.
You can support Sidepodcast from the home page. You can donate any amount for as a UK supermarket says “Every little helps”.
So, if you love listening to the podcasts, if you enjoy lurking in the comments to catch up on the latest panda news, or if you comment constantly, Sidepodcast supports us all and we need to give something back.
Finally, I started lurking on Sidepodcast around this time last year and de-lurked in July. I want to thank Christine, Mr C and all of the commenters for making the last year much better than it would otherwise have been. If you are lurking, they’re a really welcoming bunch, come and say hello, and don’t forget to donate.
Sidepodcast is heading to our nation's capital tomorrow for the Evening with Joe that has been highly anticipated for many weeks now. We're going there both as fans and as crew, to record some audio and take some photos for a podcast to promote the event. In some ways it's sort of like An Aside with Joe Live.
We're running a competition at the moment to win a signed copy of Joe's book The Grand Prix Saboteurs, but if you're lucky enough to be attending, Joe will be selling and signing books at the event.
If you're planning on being there, please do let us know in the comments, and we'll do our best to match any new names to faces. Don't forget that part of the evening includes "a chance to talk informally on any subject you care to mention", so make sure you arrive armed with plenty of questions and your best speaking voice.
We'll also open up a thread for the Joe talk on Friday so that us and others can feed back what's happening to those unable to attend. We'll be recording audio during the main part of evening for a future podcast, although I don't think there are any plans to do anything in terms of video.
There's no F1 Debrief show this week, but we hope to have some Joe audio edited out for you over the weekend, so if you're attending the event tomorrow, you can relive it, and if you're not, you can catch up with some more of the man's thoughts.
Today is Tuesday, and I can't quite believe that it's almost the end of February already. That's both scary, and also very cool. The season will soon be here and I can no longer moan about the countdowns. It's close enough that counting down to the season is acceptable. Meanwhile, here are some of the things we're talking about:
This week's F1 Debrief is all up and ready for you to listen to. We discuss plenty of news from the past week and gather a lot of lovely feedback as well. If you're keen on the outtakes, I posted a couple on the daily post yesterday, and am pointing them out here as well: Mr C can't speak and Christine can't speak.
I also updated Christine's Rankings yesterday, in which Heikki Kovalainen got the most points. Unfortunately for him, they weren't all in the right direction. There are also notes on the Virgin Racing drivers, plus Webber gets his first (minus) points as well.
It looks as though Stefan GP have postponed and/or cancelled the test of their new car in Portimao. Apparently the downfall is the lack of tyres, which is down to Bridgestone. The tyre supplier aren't allowed to give them F1 tyres, and couldn't get GP2 replacements in time, so for now, the Stefan test is off.
That's all for now. Don't forget to vote on the latest part of Life in the Fast Lane. We're getting towards the end of the story now, so each vote is more and more important! I will see you in the comments.
Coming up this week, we discuss tyres, skipping races, Ferrari moaning, Doctor Who, green paint, plus a special Tremayne.
Intro
Everyone in the whole world is counting down to the season now, so it must almost be here.
Good Week / Bad Week
It's been a good week for Michelin as they're contemplating coming back into F1, although we can't figure out why. Also for Ferrari as Alonso really rates their car. It's been a bad week for race fans as the Abu Dhabi race is still safe, and for Alvaro Parente who is out of a reserve driver role.
News and Views
We consider the future of US F1 and Campos. US F1 don't seem to be struggling something chronic, and I'm not happy about their desire to miss four races. If they miss four then I want to as well! Campos, though, have found a way forward at least, but it seems as though they won't be the Campos we know and, erm, love.
Testing was mixed weather, starting out rough much to Ferrari's disgust. It improved towards the end of the week though, so we evaluate who was fast, who was slow, who James Allen rates, and the Lotus/Virgin battle.
Feedback
A quick hi to a Twitter user, plus an update on the McLaren hoody contest. We get a voicemail from Dan and an email from Tom regarding the green paint situation. Zach says we are mostly fun, whilst Lewis has a major Tremayne about Twitter and liveries. Adie has launched an online magazine, Peter wasn't keen on the CSI New York episode with added motorsport references, and Mike updates on his coverage in Canada. Finally in website feedback, Darryl is impressed, whilst Dr J wants a little tweak to the breakout threads.
Housekeeping
No real housekeeping except to say there's no show next week, because of Joe's meetup on Friday, plus the real important testing over the weekend. When we return in two week's time, it's the last show before the season begins.
In some regards, we are ahead of schedule because we've got the latest episode of F1 Debrief out already. In others, we are behind schedule, as I haven't written the next part of Life in the Fast Lane yet. The vote is closed, but I figured I would save it for a day when I wasn't busy editing podcasts, and could pay more attention to Mitch and his race strategy. Meanwhile, here are some of the things we're talking about:
Ollie appears to have made a triumphant return to blogging, with more posts in a day than even Joe can claim! Head on over to BlogF1 to catch up with his thoughts on the launches we have seen, plus some nice glossy photos as well.
If you have listened to the podcast already, you'll know we had a voicemail on this subject, but F1 Wolf has posted a poll of the liveries we have seen so far and you can vote on which is the best one. It's a great way of seeing them all one above the other in close proximity, so comparison is very easy.
It's worth pointing out, as I did not do the daily yesterday and Mr C seemed to be otherwise occupied in terms of linkage, that we created an Amazon store for Sidepodcast. The idea is we put in recommended books, DVDs, music, and more, and if you buy from there, we get an Associates cut of that. We're taking suggestions on what should go in, although I think I'm a little behind on those already!
That should do it for now, although it would be remiss of me to post this daily without highlighting some of the outtakes of our offline show. I linked to them in the comments yesterday, but here they are for posterity:
Things you didn't think you'd hear Mr C say:
Speaking is hard:
I expect too much:
That really is all now, I'll see you in the comments.
Coming up this week we discuss moonlighting, licensing issues, ideal tracks, self sponsorship, Virgin’s woes, and F1 fiction.
Intro
It's Valentine's Day and what are we doing? Making a podcast, obviously!
Good Week / Bad Week
A good week for Stefan GP because they still have the belief they will get onto the grid at some point in the first four races. Also a good week for Ron Dennis who was inducted into the Motorsport Magazine Hall of Fame. A bad week for Heikki Kovalainen who had to take a second job for Finnish TV during the Lotus launch, and for team bosses as Bernie Ecclestone would like to license them.
News and Views
Before we talk about the launches, there's a quick update on Silverstone who confirmed they would be running the new MotoGP layout for the race. Damon Hill is not impressed.
Three teams unveiled their new cars this week, with Force India the first to do so. Their online launch was barely a launch with just a few photos making an appearance. The car and livery look exactly the same as last year. Red Bull also have a similar car to last year, and also to Toro Rosso, but you can tell the (magic) hand of Adrian Newey has been on the case. Their launch was marginally better, as the car was at Jerez already.
Finally, Lotus showed them all how it was done with a real life London launch, and the green/yellow livery caused no end of debate. They also have a podcast starring none other than Ted Kravitz (and some Lotus people...).
Here's the updated table of our launch scores:
Team Launch
Christine's Score
Mr C's Score
Mercedes
3
4
Ferrari
6
4
Williams
0
6
McLaren
8
6
Sauber
2
4
Renault
2
4
Toro Rosso
1
3
Virgin Racing
-5
0
Force India
2
2
Red Bull
3
4
Lotus
5
6
We move on to testing talk, but really it was not as exciting as last week due to the weather. Virgin Racing had a terrible time, Michael Schumacher prefers to eat at Ferrari, and they like to run out of fuel on purpose.
Feedback
I'm keen on starting a Mailbag show, but for now, two voicemails kick off the Feedback section. RG is not at all impressed with this year's liveries, whilst Adie had a minor breakdown when the doohickey malfunctioned.
Luis tells us how Formula 1 is in Portugal, Myles credits Ted, Sandy confirms he will photograph the marmots for me, Alberto talks F1 and music, and Steve points out McLaren's latest initiative for bloggers and fans. Also, happy birthday to Zoe.
Housekeeping
The wiki is in a state of disrepair at the moment but I'm working on it. Also I have started writing some fiction, in which you can vote on the outcome.
Outtakes
Not really an outtake, but something you wouldn't expect Mr C to say:
Tuesday is here and with it brings our first action of the week, in the shape of a Force India launch. The team are going online with their new car, so let's hope they are more successful than Virgin were. Keep an eye out for the breakout thread ahead of the action at 9am. Meanwhile, here are some of the things we're talking about:
F1 Debrief is up and ready for everyone to listen to, and I would warn you of two things. Firstly, there is quite a lot of Twitter talk, and whilst we both find the service leaves a bad taste in our mouths, it is revolutionising F1 coverage all the time. Secondly, I try and be down with the kids a couple of times and it's quite embarrassing. Enjoy!
Adam Cooper has been delving into the history books to find out some of the stories of other new teams, in this case Mastercard Lola. It's fair to say that fiasco is an understatement, but it makes fascinating reading, and like the comments say, let's hope for more history from Mr Cooper.
I may have started another blog yesterday, and whilst that may not make a change, the content is certainly a bit different to our normal offerings. After thinking about it a lot, I started writing fiction again, and I've posted the beginnings of an F1 story that you get to control. Hopefully it is self-explanatory, but head on over to Ten Step Stories and cast your vote.
That should do it for now. Hopefully, you've had a good start to the week, let us know, and I'll see you in the comments.
